


thank you (for being a friend)

by good_ho_mens



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex is Fond, Canon LGBTQ Character, Coming Out, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I'll Take a Serving of Pancakes With a Side of Found Family, Reggie Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Has Bad Parents (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie is a Sweetheart (Julie and the Phantoms), Short & Sweet, anywayss, it's not like really there but just assume ksj, these tags are too long for this short of a fic, totally not based on the convo between me and my friend when i came out to her at ihop kjbwkjvb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:33:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27237331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/good_ho_mens/pseuds/good_ho_mens
Summary: "You also haven’t answered my question.”“What question?”“You want some orange juice?”____Or: Alex has to come clean, and Reggie is... Reggie
Relationships: Alex & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 454





	thank you (for being a friend)

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Thank You For Being a Friend by Andrew Gold.  
> I watched Julie and the Phantoms in two days and this convo I had with my friend fit Reggie and Alex so perfectly so please enjoy skjbw

Sitting at Reggie’s dining room table is rarely a calm thing. Usually, Alex makes sure to absolutely avoid it, dragging Reggie to his place or Luke’s or Bobby’s, or even some trashy diner just to get his friend out of that house. The one time he had stayed for dinner, because Reggie couldn’t get out of it and Alex wasn’t about to make him sit through it alone, is in the like, top ten most stressful situations of his life.

The point is, Alex generally stays away from Reggie’s house. Except today his parents are off doing their own thing, and when Reggie offers to make you pancakes in the morning, you set your damn alarm and trudge to his front door at nine am on a Saturday morning. It’s just how it goes.

“-and then I told her that I do, actually, know basic algebra and just because I’m friends with Luke doesn’t mean I can’t add-” Reggie is saying, happily flipping pancakes onto a plate.

Alex smiles warmly, because it’s not often Reggie is this comfortable anywhere, let alone his house. He snorts when Reggie tries to flip a pancake over his head and it lands on his shoulder, and something inside him twists.

It’s the perfect setting, the sun shining, making breakfast, Reggie in a good mood, no one here to interrupt. Alex should just do it, just blurt it out, rip off the bandaid.

Reggie plops down into the seat next to him, passing him a plate with a ridiculous amount of pancakes stacked on top. “Syrup or peanut butter?”

Alex grimaces at Reggie as he slaps a huge amount of said peanut butter onto his own stack. “I’ll take syrup, thanks.”

“Sure.” Reggie shrugs and slides it over. “After this we should bike over to Luke’s, he didn’t answer the phone last night and I bet you he forgot to eat, too.”

Alex snorts, “He’s working on a new song.”

“The whole “struggling artist” schtick isn’t supposed to be a goal,” Reggie says around a bite of pancake.

It’s so absolutely normal, and quiet, and happy, and peaceful, Alex grips his fork so hard his knuckles turn white. He’s about to ruin everything, and Reggie will never talk to him again, and the guys will kick him out of the band, and Alex will be a sad, lonely person who plays drums by himself in his basement and cries over old Polaroids.

Here goes nothing. “Hey Reg?”

“Orange juice?” Reggie asks at the same time, gesturing to a carton next to him. He swallows his bite, “What’s up?”

“I’m gay.”

There. He said it. He said it and now he can very casually get up and run away and maybe get Bobby to hug him like, once, before he finds out too and then he can live out his loner drummer in a dark basement life-

“Cool.”

Alex blinks, then stares, and the fork slips from his grip. “Huh?”

Reggie shrugs, cutting viciously into his pancake stack like it’s the holy grail of food and he’s Indiana Jones. “Cool.”

“Cool?” Alex repeats dumbly. “Shouldn’t you be like, yelling at me right now?”

He regrets wording it like that when Reggie flinches just a little, and then shakes his head. “Why would I do that?”

For a half second Alex wonders if Reggie knows what gay means. He’s not stupid, but like, he’s Reggie. “So you’re okay with it?”

“Yep!” Reggie smiles, peanut butter on his teeth. Gross. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because… a lot of people aren’t?”

“A lot of people think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. It’s true, I read it in a magazine.” Reggie’s eyes glaze over, “But can you imagine having a chocolate cow? I’d name her cocoa. We’d be best friends--”

“Reggie,” Alex cuts in. He drags a shaking hand through his hair. “Are you sure this isn’t shock? I thought you’d be mad, or at least need some time to process… me.”

“You process milk,” Reggie reminds him.

“Reggie,” Alex says again, distressed.

The bassist in question rolls his eyes, “What? You’re a rad drummer, you’re hot, you’re super nice, sometimes you’re a little emotional, you’re gay, you’re my best friend, you are definitely the mom friend don’t even argue, it’s a wonder the whole world hasn’t fallen in love with you yet, but to be fair, I don’t think China knows you exist, and you’re Alex. You also haven’t answered my question.”

“What question?” Alex is not choked up. He is not. His voice does not break. Shut up.

“You want some orange juice?”

Alex laughs, breathless and a little high pitched and a lot relieved, and leans over to yank Reggie into a hug. “Thank you.”

“You know I’m always down to make you pancakes,” Reggie says innocently, but wraps his arms around Alex’s back. His voice softens, “Have you told anyone else?”

“Just you.”

“Oh,” Reggie sounds mystified, and maybe even a little honored. Alex can feel him playing with a loose string on his jacket behind his back. “I can go with you when you tell them, if you want.”

Pulling away, Alex grips Reggie’s shoulders, studying his face and only finding sincerity. He laughs again, and doesn’t even bother to wipe the tears off his cheeks. “I’d like that.”

Reggie nods, yanking his sleeve over his hand to brush the tears off Alex’s face haphazardly. Alex scoffs and shoves his hand away, still smiling. 

The two of them sit quietly for a few seconds, and then Reggie clears his throat, “So, uh… orange juice?”


End file.
